Mission Statement

Mad in America’s mission is to serve as a catalyst for rethinking psychiatric care in the United States (and abroad). We believe that the current drug-based paradigm of care has failed our society, and that scientific research, as well as the lived experience of those who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, calls for profound change.

Our non-profit organization promotes such change in two ways:

(1) We publish a webzine, madinamerica.com, that provides news of psychiatric research, original journalism articles, and a forum for an international group of writers—people with lived experience, peer specialists, family members, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, program managers, journalists, attorneys, and more—to explore issues related to this goal of “remaking psychiatry.”

(2) We run Mad In America Continuing Education, which hosts online courses taught by leading researchers in the field. These courses provide a scientific critique of the existing paradigm of care, and tell of alternative approaches that could serve as the foundation for a new paradigm, one that emphasizes psychosocial care, and de-emphasizes the use of psychiatric medications, particularly over the long-term. While the general public may take the courses, we are primarily marketing the courses to provider organizations and mental health professionals, including psychiatrists.

We believe that this mix of journalism, education and societal discussion can provide the seed for a much-needed remaking of mental health care in the United States. It is evident that our current “brain disease” model is flawed in so many ways, and we believe that it needs to be replaced by a model that emphasizes our common humanity, and promotes robust, long-term recovery and wellness.

We also believe it is important to provide readers with the opportunity to add their voices to this discussion. We encourage readers to leave comments (see our posting guidelines), and to submit personal stories and op-ed submissions. We encourage our readers to visit our forums to further this communal discussion.

We welcome feedback and comments on how we can improve this website, and continue to build an online community that can be a societal force for change.